Castelli Nicosia

... heart of the capital. Within seconds I had made up my mind I was going across this Green Line if allowed to see what surprises lay on the other side. A mountain rises above the city and the Turkish side has painted a giant flag on it to remind everyone who is in power over there.

Now as the bus rolled into Lefkosa, I noticed lots of traffic, wide highrise lined streets and all the shops straight out of Europe such as Adidas, Hugo Boss, Costa ...

... to stand for an hour crushed up against the gate door so I could be at the front of that Ryanair line. Even talking to an agent at the airport is free unlike Ryanair charging to use the counter (I check in online and prefer not to interact with anyone there). And Ryanair charges a credit card convenience fee to pay the counter fee anyway! So if you know the rules and play nicely within them, Ryanair is a great deal.

My travel experience on Aegean ...

... tacky racy lingerie, all proudly displayed on clear plastic hangers. It's like the perfect dessert after shopping for your pleasures in Billa. Maybe our friend from Finland could stop by Sofia on her way home and try out her newfound "prettiness" as she called it.

I've left all that shopping madness behind and have made it to Larnaca, Cypress. I've got plenty of time here to explore and see what this desert island has to offer.

Sunday, July 5th, 2009
This began one of the longest driving
days of the entire trip. If you get the chance look at a map of
Cyprus. We left Nicosia and headed to Agia Napa. En route we
stopped at a fishing village and several famous beaches. From there
we headed to Larnaka where following conflicting signs to the
Larnaca, Cyprus lantian1979

... in Turkey, relatively speaking. The
Turkish side was a bit more run down, however, signs of EU
intervention abounded demonstrating new agreements and a desire to
preserve the past. We came upon the top site in Northern Nicosia,
the Selimiye Mosque which combines medieval Christian architecture
with Islamic influence to create a most stunning Mosque. While
walking around the grounds, a gentleman by the name of Rammadan
(pardon the spelling) came and spoke ...

... this might mean for the locals, with regard to the questions of tradition vs. economy vs. religion vs. lifestyle, etc., I'm not sure. But for the average traveler, looking for a place in the sun at a price that doesn't hurt much, north Cyprus is a chill deal. Kyrenia/Girne is where the ferry boat lands from Turkey, and that's where I've booked a room for the next three nights, so that's convenient ...

... is certainly a great place to vacation in the early fall. Late October and early November was still quite warm to our standards, but the tourist season was over for Eurpeans so it was a good place to vacation as it was moderately priced.

... to my parents, my poverty saddened me; consumption-minded tourists spoke excitedly near me because they were going to buy new, pink phones. I walked through Nicosia, determined, as dusk was settling on my last Cypriot evening, to hitchhike to the southern coast. And a pony-tailed guy from Athens invited me to hang out at his house and eat watermelon. He lived in a neighborhood where the Acropolis-like, rounded polygonal houses sat behind fences and ...

... Guy - You are eating the chicken Me - Yes Cypriot Guy - You are not eating the pig Me - No Cypriot Guy - Are you a Muslim Me - No Cypriot Guy - Eat the pig to show me Me - Ok !!!!! After that, we became best friends !!! I moved on, and found the wall again, well actually the opposite side to where I had been. The guards looked bored and were stuggling to stay awake !!! As I moved on, I found some Mosques that were locked up, was this in retaliation for ...

... average winter temperature is around 16 to 18 degrees we finally got to see snow. While the day had not gone as we had planned, we could not have asked for a better experience, and as we started on the almost 2 hour drive back to Paphos, we laughed and smiled like little kiddies all the way. Sunday 7th January After the childlike pleasure of yesterday, today was a sobering experience and one that will not easily be forgotten for either of us. Please understand we knew nothing of ...